The father nobody expected

Catherine read the message again.

HER FATHER WAS NOT CHARLES VALE.

For several seconds, she couldn't speak.

Then she looked at Jonathan.

“Who was my daughter's father?”

Jonathan's expression became guarded.

“I thought Charles was.”

“So did I,” Catherine replied. “But Evelyn wouldn't have written that unless she knew something.”

Adrian examined the photograph.

“Could the message be referring to another man?”

Richard shook his head.

“The photograph was taken years after the child was born. Whoever wrote this wanted Catherine to understand that the truth had been hidden deliberately.”

Samuel looked towards Catherine.

“Did you have another relationship before Charles?”

Catherine hesitated.

“There was someone. But I was told he died before I discovered I was pregnant.”

Jonathan stepped closer.

“Who was he?”

Catherine looked at him.

“His name was Michael.”

The name meant nothing to Elena.

But Daniel, who had remained silent near the doorway, suddenly raised his head.

“Michael what?”

Catherine turned.

“Michael Hayes.”

Dr. Hayes?

Everyone looked towards the doctor, who had accompanied them from the hospital.

He shook his head immediately.

“No relation. I knew him, though.”

Catherine's voice trembled.

“He was a lawyer. He worked with Jonathan before Charles took control of the Vale business.”

Jonathan's expression changed.

“Michael Hayes was never dead.”

---

The room became silent.

Catherine stared at Jonathan.

“You knew him?”

“I knew he disappeared. I never knew he had anything to do with your daughter.”

Daniel stepped forward.

“Michael was the person who drafted the original inheritance agreement.”

Richard frowned.

“Then he knew about the third heir before anyone else.”

“Exactly,” Daniel replied.

Adrian looked at Catherine.

“Did Michael know you were pregnant?”

Catherine nodded.

“He was the first person I told. He promised to return before the baby was born.”

“What happened?”

“He disappeared. Charles told me Michael had betrayed the family and fled with important documents. A few months later, I was told he had died.”

Jonathan shook his head.

“Charles lied.”

Catherine looked towards him.

“How can you be certain?”

“Because I received a letter from Michael three years ago.”

Catherine froze.

“You what?”

Jonathan looked uncomfortable.

“He asked me to protect someone. He didn't reveal his location, but he said the child he had left behind would one day become important to the Vale family.”

Catherine's eyes filled with tears.

“My daughter.”

Jonathan nodded.

---

Elena picked up the photograph again.

“Then Evelyn knew Michael was alive.”

Daniel examined the handwriting.

“Possibly. But there's another detail.”

He pointed towards the woman's hand in the photograph.

A silver ring was visible.

It carried the same crown symbol found on the guardian's seal.

“That ring belonged to Michael,” Jonathan said.

Catherine looked at him.

“How do you know?”

“Because I gave it to him.”

Adrian folded his arms.

“So Michael may have been the person who helped Evelyn hide Catherine's daughter.”

Jonathan nodded.

“And if he's alive, he may know where she is now.”

---

At St. Martha's Residence, the manager confirmed that a woman had checked into the building under the name Grace Williams.

However, the woman had already left.

She had requested a private room, stayed for only two nights and departed before anyone questioned her.

Richard obtained permission to examine the room.

Inside, they found an old suitcase.

There were no clothes.

Only photographs, a diary and a sealed envelope addressed to Catherine.

Catherine opened it with trembling fingers.

The letter was brief.

My dear Catherine,

I know you have spent years believing your daughter was lost. She was never lost to me. I promised Michael that I would keep her safe until the truth could be revealed.

But the child you remember is not the woman she has become.

She knows who she is.

And she knows who her father is.

Catherine stopped reading.

Elena gently took the letter.

There was one final line.

IF YOU WANT TO FIND HER, STOP SEARCHING FOR YOUR DAUGHTER. SEARCH FOR THE WOMAN WHO SIGNS HER LETTERS M.H.

Samuel looked at Jonathan.

“M.H. Michael Hayes?”

Jonathan nodded slowly.

“Those are his initials.”

---

Meanwhile, at an apartment across the city, a woman sat beside a window.

A laptop was open on the table.

On its screen were photographs of Elena, Adrian, Samuel, Victoria and Catherine.

The woman opened a document.

At the top was written:

THE VALE FAMILY — FINAL RECORD OF HEIRS.

She crossed out Victoria's name.

Then she crossed out Samuel's.

Finally, she placed a mark beside Elena's.

A phone rang.

She answered.

“It's done.”

A man's voice replied.

“Have they discovered Michael?”

“Not yet.”

“Good. Keep it that way.”

The woman glanced at the photograph beside her laptop.

It showed a younger version of herself standing beside Catherine.

She turned it face down.

“There's one more problem,” she said.

“What?”

“Catherine has started asking questions.”

The man sighed.

“Then it's time she learned why her daughter was never allowed to come home.”

The call ended.

---

Back at the mansion, Catherine sat alone with Michael's old photograph.

Samuel approached her.

“Are you alright?”

She shook her head.

“I don't know what to feel. I've spent years grieving a child who may have been living somewhere, knowing exactly who I was.”

Samuel sat beside her.

“You still have a chance to meet her.”

“What if she doesn't want to see me?”

“Then you give her time.”

Catherine looked at him.

“You sound like Jonathan.”

Samuel gave a faint smile.

“Perhaps I inherited more from him than I thought.”

Across the room, Elena was examining the letter again.

Something about the initials bothered her.

M.H.

She remembered the woman in the photograph.

The one who had stood beside Evelyn.

The woman had been wearing a small necklace.

Elena enlarged the photograph on her phone.

A name was engraved on the pendant.

MICHAEL.

She looked up.

“Catherine?”

Catherine turned.

Elena showed her the image.

“Do you recognise this necklace?”

Catherine's expression changed.

She leaned closer.

Then she whispered:

“That belonged to Michael's wife.”

Jonathan stood immediately.

“His wife?”

Catherine nodded.

“He married someone after he disappeared. I thought it was a rumour.”

Daniel slowly approached.

“Do you know her name?”

Catherine stared at the photograph.

Then she answered.

“Margaret.”

Elena's phone slipped slightly in her hand.

Margaret?

Her mother?

Before anyone could speak, Margaret appeared at the doorway.

She had heard everything.

And the expression on her face confirmed that Catherine's revelation was not entirely a surprise.

“There's something I never told you about Michael,” Margaret whispered.

Elena turned towards her.

“What?”

Margaret swallowed.

“Before I married Daniel, Michael Hayes was my husband.”